The Verona High School girls winter track team won the North 2 Group 1 Sectionals in Toms River on Saturday and there were first-place finishes by Gwendolyn Neale, Anthony Lewis and Ian Zalewski. Thirty-eight high school teams competed in the event.
Neale, who is a freshman, took first in the 800m run with a time of 2:31.81, easily outpacing her next closest competitor, a North Arlington senior who finished in 2:35.91. Anthony Lewis took first in high jump at 5-08.00, leading a strong field that all topped 5 feet. Zalewski is the Sectionals champ at the 1600m distance, with a time of 4:33.00. He missed being the champ in the 800m by just one second, and also took third in the 3200m with a time of 10:27.36.
Under the Sectionals rules, the top six in each event move on to the state Group championship, which will be held this coming Saturday. Here’s who’s going from Verona and their finishing place, times, height or distance:
55m: Sarah Knoetig, 3rd, 7.74 and Maile O’Neill, 4th, 7.75
400m: Gwen Neale, 2nd, 1:03.11 and Sarah Knoetig, 3rd, 1:03.37
800m: Gwen Neale, 1st, 2:31.81 and Eleanor Battersby, 6th, 2:44.49
1600m: Eleanor Battersby, 3rd, 5:51.88
3200m: Fernanda Webster, 4th, 13.16.16
4x400m Relay, (Sarah Knoetig, Lucia Grant, Victoria Niziolek, Gwen Neale), 2nd, 4:29.09
Pole vault: Georgeanne Valera, 2nd, 8-00.00 and Marguerite Valera, 3rd, 8-00.00
High jump: Cara Ann DeMars, 6th, 4-06.00
Shot put: Danielle Imbriano, 4th, 27-08.25
55m: Anthony Lewis, 6th, 7.03
800m: Ian Zalewski, 2nd, 2:07.65
1600m: Ian Zalewski, 1st, 4:33.00
3200m: Ian Zalewski, 3rd, 10:27.36
High jump: Anthony Lewis, 1st, 5-08.00 and Jack DeMars, 6th, 5-02.00
